Door-operating mechanism



A. CAMPBELL. Doon OPERATING MEcHANlsM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 19, 1919.

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DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION f lLED MAY 19, 1919.-

- 1,342,090. Patented June 1, 1920. y

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ARGYLE CAMPBELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 ENTERPRISE RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DOOR-OPEllEt/ATINGr MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Ifatent.

Patented J une 1', 192).

Appucation fuea May 19, 1919. serial No. 298,182.

To all whom t may concern: Y v

Be it known that I, ARGYLE CAMPBELL, a4 citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement in Door-Operating Y Mechanisms, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in door operating mechanisms.

One object of the invention is to provide a commercially practicable, highly efficient operating mechanism for load-supporting doors and more especially, pivoted drop 4bottom doors of cars such as employed in gondola, general service, box and other freight cars.

Another object of the invention is to prov vide a drop door operating mechanism of the general character above indicated wherein is employed a winding or operating shaft, a flexible connection between the shaft and the door, the arrangement being such that, when the door is in closed position under or adapted to sustain a load, the flexible connection is relieved of all tension or load andV the weight or loadl from the door is sustained'by the shaft in a manner to eliminate any tendency to rotate the shaft.

More specifically, the object of the invention is to provide a door operating mechanism adapted for pivoted drop doors and wherein is employed a slidable latch or lock carried by the door adapted to project over and rest upon the shaft when the door is in closed position, the movement of the latch into its operative position over the shaft being accomplished by tension or pull thereon in a direct line from the end of the latch to the shaft so as to eliminate all tendency to twist, distort or bind the latch in its movements with respect to the door as the parts are placed in operative position.

The invention furthermore consists in the improvements in the parts and devices and in the novel combinations of the parts and devices herein shown, described and made the subject matter of claim.

In the drawing forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertical, sectional view of a portion of a freight car, the section betion shown in Fig. 2, the housing for thek latch, however, being shown in horizontal section. Fig. d is a view corresponding to that shown in Fig. 1 but illustrating the relation of the parts of the operating mechanism as the latch or lock is either just leaving or just engaging the shaft, depending upon whether the door is being opened or is being brought to closed position. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. .l but illustrating the relation of the parts of the operating mechanism when the latch or lock is free from engagement with the shaft. And Figs. 6, 7 and`8 are detail, vertical, sectional views of the latch or lock taken on the lines 6 6, 7-'7 and 8 8, respectively, of Fig. 2.

, In said drawings, 10 denotes one of the channel center sills, 11 a central floor plate,

as indicated at 19 and the center floor plate 11 may also be cut away as at20 so as to prevent interference with the downward movement of the floor door.

Although in the drawings I have` illustrated only one floor door of a car and only the immediately adjacent portions of the car, y

it will be understood by those skilled in the art that there may be a series of such doors extending lengthwise of the car and a common operating shaft employed therewith.. The flexible connections and latches or locks will preferably be used, two for each door, but inasmuch as'the operation of all these mechanisms would be similar, I deem it only necessary to illustrate and describe in detail one ofvthem. Y

In carrying out my invention, I employ Yan operating shaft 2l which extends parallel to the free edgeor edges of the pivoted doors and which is located just beyond the curved path of movement of the free edges of the doors so that the edges of the doors and the shaft or any parts on the latter do not interfere. Said shaft 2l is also located in a plane somewhat below the plane of the door or doors with which it is associated. In actual practice, in a car'such as indicated in 'the drawings, said shaft 2l will be mounted in suitable bearings applied to the diaphragm or other cross members of the car underframe, the shaft passing` through such cross members.

Mounted'on each pivoted door 15, (there preferably being two sets for each door) is a substantially rectangular hollow casing or housing 22, 'the same being located on the under side ofthe door near the free edge thereof. This housing 22 is operi at its outer end and preferably'also at its inner end and provides an upper track 23 and a lower. track 24, respectively, for an upper set of`anti-friction rollers 25 and a lower set of antifriction rollers 26. The 'anti-friction rollers 25 are mounted on the ends` of a shaft 27 carried by the slidable latch or lock designated generally by the reference A. Similarly, the lower rear set of anti-friction rollers 26 is moimted on a shaft 28 carriedL by said latch. With this arrangement, vit is evident that the lock or latch A is slidable back Vand forth within the housing 22 with a minimum of friction, thus facilitating the operationof the mechanisn, as will be appreciated. In order to limit the movements f of thelatch A back and forth within the housing: 22,V any suitable stops may be pro- 4the-upper wall of said hollow section being indicated by the reference 30, the lower wall by the reference 3l and the side walls by the references 32-32. At the inner end of said hollow section, the latch A is provided with a transverse partition 33 and rearwardly thereof, as shown by Fig. 6, the cross section of the latch is of substantially I-form with a circular enlargement, as indicated at 34 in Fig. 6 to provide a socket for the eyebolt 35. Said I-section of the latch continues until it reaches a second partition 36. The cross section of thelatch Athen changes to that of an inverted U-shape, as indicated in Fig. 7. At its rear end, the latch A again becomes of I cross section as shown in Fig. 8. The eye-bolt 35, previously mentioned, has the eye 37 thereof located within the hollow section ofthe latch so that the corresponding end ofthe flexible chain or connection 38 may be readily attached thereto. The shank of said bolt 35 is extended through the partition 36 and adjusting nuts 39-39 may be applied thereto on opposite sides of said parti-tion 36 so as to vary the effective length of the flexible connection to the shaft. By providing the inverted U- shaped section of the latch shown in Fig. 7, the rearmvost adjusting nut 39 is made lcon"- venient of access and the nut 39 on the forward side of the partition 36 is applied and made accessible by cutting away the web of the I-section as indicated at 40 in Fig. 2.

On the shaft 2l is preferably provided a chain or flexible connection winding drum indicated by the reference B. There will be one of said drums for each latch or lock A. Said drum B is provided with a spiral groove 41 within which the flexible connec tion is wound andfguided in the usual manner. At the end of said drum, and in alinement with the latch A is provided a series of pinion teeth 42, said teeth extending through an arc of approximately 90O only. rlhe under side of the latch A is provided with a corresponding set of rack teeth 43, the said teeth coperating as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. The chain orother flexible connection 38 has one end thereof attached to the drum or shaft and its other end attached to the eye-bolt 35 as previously described. The pinion teeth 42, the spiral groove in the drum B and the attachment of the flexible connection at its ends to the shaft and latch are s0 designed that the chain or other flexible connection will pass from the drum to the latch at a point as indicated at 44 in Fig. 3 directly in line with the longitudi-Y nal center or axis of the latch A. The object ofthis, and the same constitutes an important feature of my invention, is to place a direct pull or tension on the end of the latch A in alinement with its path of movement as the latch A b'egins to engage and rides up on the teeth 42 of the drum, as shown in Fig. 4. By this construction, I avoid all possibility of pulling the latch to one side or exerting an eccentric pullthereon, which would cause the latch to bind and j am during the operation and make it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to` move the parts to closedor locked position. V

From an inspection of Figs. 4 and 5, it

will be noted that the chain or flexible connection 38, during the lowering or lifting of the door while the latch is disengaged. from the shaft, passes around the enlarged end 45 of the upper wall 30 of the latch A so that a direct vertical pull or tension is exerted on the latch at its end. With this arrangement, I avoid all possibility of interference between the latch or lock on the one hand and the shaft on the other hand when the latch is passing by the shaft, since the latch A must obviously be pushed within its housing by the chain or flexible connection a sufficient distance to clear the shaft.

The operation is as follows: Assuming the parts in the position shown in Figs. l and 2, the operator will rotate the shaft 21 in a clockwise direction by any suitable means at the end of said shaft 21. As this rotation continues, the teeth 42 will obviously push the latch A to the right until the condition is reached illustrated in Fig. l where the latch is about to free itself from the shaft. As the latch frees itself from the shaft, the load is taken by the chain or other flexible connection as indicated in Fig. 5 until the door is in its fully opened position. In closing the door, the shaft 2l is rotated in a counter-clockwiseV direction and the chain or flexible connection is wound therearound and the door gradually lifted until the condition is reached which is shown in Fig. A. Continued rotation of the shaft 2l in the counter-clockwise direction engages the teeth 42 and 4:3 and the latch is pulled out over the shaft so that the flexible connection is relieved of all load and the load from the door is transferred through the latch directly to the shaft, thus eliminating all tendency to rotate the shaft when the load is on the door.

Although I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out the invention, the

same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

l. In an operating mechanism of the character described, the combination with a pivoted door and a shaft rotatably mounted about a fixed axis, said shaft extending parallel to the free edge of the door adjacent thereto but outside of the path of movement of the free edge of the door; of a latch on the door` at the free edge thereof, said latch being mounted to slide on the door in a direction at right angles to said shaft and restricted to such sliding movement; a drum on said shaft; alined sets of coperating teeth on said drum and latch; a flexible connection attached at one end to said latch in line with the teeth thereon, said connection being attached at its other end to said shaft;

and means on said drum for guiding the flexible connection during the closing operation of the door, so as to compel the flexible connection to extend tangentially from the drum directly 4in line with the teeth of the drum and latch from the time the latch firsty engages the drum until it isv directly supported thereby during the latter portion of the closing operation.

2. In an operating mechanism of the character described, the combination with a pivoted door and a shaft mountedrto rotate about a fixed axis, said shaft extending parallel to the free edge of the door adjacent thereto but outside of the path of movement of the free edge of the door; of a latch on said door at the free edge thereof, said latch being mounted to slide onthe door in a direction at right angles to said shaft and restricted to such sliding movement; a drum on said shaft having means thereon for guiding a flexible connection during a portion of the winding movement and another section located directly in line with said latch, said last named section having teeth extending through an arc of less than 1800, said latch having cooperative teeth on its under side at its outer end in alinement with the teeth on said drum and adapted to coperate therewith; and a flexible connection attached at one end to said shaft and at its opposite end to said latch, said connection extending from the latch direct-ly in line with the teeth thereon, said connection, during the closing operation, winding on said drum and being guided by said means during a portion of the operation and passing off on to said toothed section during the latter part of the operation directly in line with said teeth on the latch as the latter is raised into operative contact with said circular section, whereby a straight line pull is exerted on the latch during the final closing operation and twisting of the latch thereby eliminated.

3. In a car door operating mechanism of the character described, the combination with a pivoted door and a shaft mounted to rotate about a fixed axis, said shaft extending parallel to the free edge of the door adjacent thereto but outside of the path of movement of the free edge thereof; of a housing mounted on the under side of the door near its free edge, a latch slidably mounted within said housing and restricted to sliding movement in a direction at right angles to the shaft, said latch having a hollow substantially rectangular outer end and provided with teeth on its under face at its outer end; a flexible connection attached at one end to the interior of said latch and extending from the outer end thereof, the opposite end of said flexible connection being attached to the shaft; teeth on said shaft adapted to coperate with the teeth on the latch and arranged directly in line there- With; and means on said shaft for guiding the flexible connection during the closing operation `of the' door so as to compel the flexible Yconnection to extend tangentially `5 frornthe shaft directly in linewith the latch from the time the latch first engages the shaft until it is directly supported thereon during the latter portion of the closing operation.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I 10 have hereuntoV subscribed by name this 9th day of May, 41919.

ARGYLE CAMPBELL. 

